Rand Paul ad suggests Charles Booker and allies support violence: 3 things to know

Sen. Rand Paul put out an ad this week that suggests his opponent, Democrat Charles Booker, implicitly supports violence and threats by "the radical left," but Booker called such insinuations "despicable" and urged Republicans, Democrats and independents to condemn the video.

"Civil debate is an admired quality in a Republic but justifying, mocking, or celebrating violence, as documented in this video of Charles Booker and his allies, should be rejected," Paul said when he posted the ad on Twitter Monday.

"It's clear: Charles Booker doesn't believe in civil discourse. Only violence," the ad says.

Booker denounced Paul's ad Tuesday, and his campaign said it includes "falsehoods and misleading statements."

“His ad grossly lies about me and in a very sinister way, attacks several Kentucky citizens by name," Booker said in a statement. "Neither I, nor my campaign, have ever endorsed violence against any political candidate. It is despicable for Rand Paul to even insinuate that."

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The Republican Party of Kentucky embraced Paul's ad, with spokesman Sean Southard saying in a statement Monday: “Charles Booker and his far-left allies espouse dangerous views and tactics ... It is beyond time for him and his supporters to apologize for joking about the serious attack that left Senator Paul with six broken ribs."

Southard was referencing a 2017 assault by Paul's ex-neighbor, Rene Boucher, who eventually was sentenced to eight months in prison as well as six months of home confinement.

Here are three things to know about Paul's ad and responses to it:

Ad includes fight with neighbor among attacks by 'radical left'

Paul's campaign ad says the "radical left" has targeted the Kentucky Republican, citing several instances:

• The assault by Boucher, who tackled Paul while he was mowing the yard. Boucher said he went after Paul because he was upset about a lawn care issue, but the senator and his wife, Kelley Paul, raised concerns about anti-Donald Trump posts Boucher made online.

• The congressional baseball practice he attended in 2017, when a man shot Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and a few other people there. The shooter was a supporter of progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

• An August 2020 incident when he and his wife were surrounded after the Republican National Convention in Washington by protesters chanting "No justice, no peace" and "Say her name: Breonna Taylor." The senator said they threatened his life.

• A package marked with a threatening message and filled with white powder that Kelley Paul found in their Kentucky home's mailbox in May 2021.

• A man, later diagnosed with schizophrenia, who was charged for threatening to gruesomely kill Paul and his family in 2018.

Paul's ad essentially suggests Booker hasn't condemned, and even has implicitly supported, such violence and threats, saying in a voiceover: "The survival of our constitutional republic requires civil discourse. But Sen. Paul has been the target of repeated violence and threats of violence by the radical left. And while Sen. Rand Paul has been dealing with violence and threats, his opponent Charles Booker embraces those who have engaged in or glorified such violence ..."

One example Paul's ad gives is an August 2022 tweet by Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge, the first Black person who has held that leadership role. (Read more on that in the next section.)

Another example, which Paul's ad pointed to as an instance of Booker mocking Boucher's attack on Paul, is a 2021 video of Booker's that came out when he was exploring a potential Senate bid and featured him mowing a lawn.

Paul's ad does not mention the violence America has experienced from right-wing extremists in recent years.

The Anti-Defamation League said in a recent report that right-wing extremists were responsible for 75% of the 443 killings by domestic extremists the organization documented from 2012 to 2021, while left-wing extremists were responsible for 4%.

Trump supporters and individuals with ties to extremist, far-right organizations attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, evidence has shown.

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Paul was at the Capitol that day and condemned the deadly attack, which was fueled by lies that President Joe Biden's election was illegitimate. He voted to acquit Trump − who repeatedly lied that the election was stolen from him − of inciting the insurrection in a subsequent impeachment trial.

Trump, who endorsed Paul for reelection, has made comments that arguably appeared to welcome violence against political opponents, such as when he said last week that Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell "has a DEATH WISH."

Paul hasn't disavowed Trump and has criticized the idea of holding politicians responsible for violence other people inflict.

He made the latter point again in January when Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Paul made false accusations that led to death threats against him and harassment of his family.

Colmon Elridge responds to Rand Paul's suggestion that he threatened Republicans

Paul's ad says Elridge "openly threatened Republicans on social media," highlighting the final sentence of this tweet by the Democratic leader: "That said, as chair of my party, I care for my people deeply. When they are hurt, it hurts. So fair warning to the GOP, this isn’t a road you want to go down. But if you do, you can believe we won’t take it laying down. Please believe you’re gonna f--- around and find out."

That tweet was part of a thread of comments Elridge posted that said leading Republicans deployed "homophobia, transphobia, & race baiting" in their speeches this year at Fancy Farm, Kentucky's long-running political picnic. Kelley Paul spoke on her husband's behalf at that event, during which she made comments critical of LGBTQ people.

Elridge quickly responded to Paul's ad, tweeting Monday that the senator is putting Elridge's own family "in the cross hairs of his political impotence."

"The KYGOP has a dangerous allegiance to violent extremism. That Rand Paul is also putting my family in the cross hairs of his political impotence is a bulls--- move by a bulls--- little man," Elridge tweeted. "Whatever polls he’s gotten must mean we’re on the march to victory."

Charles Booker says Rand Paul's ad is 'dog whistle' politics

On Tuesday, Booker − the first Black person the Democratic Party has nominated for a U.S. Senate seat in Kentucky − suggested Paul's ad is an example of "dog whistle" politics, a tactic that uses coded language to raise the specter of race.

"Rand Paul has used racially-charged dog whistles throughout this campaign to paint a violent picture of me, instead of having the backbone to face me and the people of Kentucky on the merits of our vision for this commonwealth," he said. "Rand Paul should retract this video, apologize for his dangerous and dishonest rhetoric, and leave me out of spats with his neighbor."

Senate race:Race, claims of 'dog whistle' politics quickly dominate Rand Paul-Charles Booker battle

Early debate about whether Paul's campaign was using dog whistle politics arose after:

• A July 2021 email the senator's campaign sent that called Booker a "racial left opponent" (which a source close to the campaign said was a typo, with "radical" as the intended word);

• Paul zeroed in on his own opposition to defunding the police and making reparations for slavery with his initial response to Booker's Senate bid.

Jake Cox, a spokesman for Paul's campaign, criticized Booker's suggestion the ad is racially motivated, telling The Courier Journal Tuesday:

"Six broken ribs, surgery and a damaged lung from a violent, unprovoked felony assault are not a laughing matter. Charles Booker should have known better than to ridicule the victim of this violent crime. His ducking and hiding by falsely claiming the ad is racially motivated ignores the fact that the Booker campaign put out two ads mocking and justifying the violent attack that nearly killed Sen. Paul."

Cox was referring to the video of Booker mowing as well as another one, also shown in Paul's ad, in which a man who's pro-union praises Booker at a town hall and says of Paul: "This guy don't care about nobody but himself. That's why his neighbor beat him up."

When Booker posted that second video in August, he included a disclaimer, saying: "My campaign and I believe in saying, 'Love thy neighbor.' We do not, and will not condone neighborhood violence."

Reach reporter Morgan Watkins at mwatkins@courierjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter: @morganwatkins26.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Rand Paul ad claims Charles Booker supports violence: 3 things to know